²³^aAnd it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^bpicking the heads of grain.

²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^awhy are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵And He ^*said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;

²⁶how he entered the house of God around the time of ^aAbiathar the high priest, and ate the ¹consecrated bread, which ^bis not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?”

²⁷And Jesus was saying to them, “^aThe Sabbath ¹was made ²for man, and ^bnot man ³for the Sabbath.

²⁸“Consequently the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

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Footnotes

*Marks verbs that are historical presents in the Greek which have been translated with an English past tense in order to conform to modern usage.
1Or showbread; lit loaves of presentation
1Or came into being
2Lit for the sake of
3Lit for the sake of

Cross references

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry—how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests—and also gave some to his companions?” Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

NLTNew Living Translation

One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And it happened that he was going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to make their way while plucking off the heads of grain. And the Pharisees began to say to him, “Behold, why are they doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and he and those who were with him were hungry—how he entered into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests) and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

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